Customer Reviews

Kali: The Feminine Force

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A lot of books on Kali come necessarily from a scholarly perspective that is deeply rooted in patriarchal presuppositions (as this is the nature of most of the research that's been done). However, Mookerjee's book delves into the heart of Kali, creating balance in the approach. This book is a thorough and thoughtful introduction to her history and worship, and demystifies her symbolism and terrible imagery, reminding us that Kali is seen both as the fierce destroyer AND the benevolent, all-encompassing, compassionate mother.

I highly recommend this to those who are new to Kali, as it's very accessible for Westerners.

There is a popular misunderstanding in the Western world about the nature of Kali. Kali is often portrayed as some kind of demon and, unfortunateley, she sometimes even has been worshipped as such, even in India. There are documented cases where Kali worship has involved human sacrifice, and in the western world even some satanists has tried to integrate Kali in their pantheon.

But, of course, from the start she was the very opposite of a demon. In the original myth about Kali and Durga, wonderfully described in this book, these goddesses in fact save the gods and the world and defeats the male demons that threatens it.

In Mookerjees book, with a lot of splendid illustrations, you get the story of Kali, as well as some interesting insights in Devi worship, saktism, and, of cource, the story of Durga. It can highly be recommended.

If you are interested in Kali, you will want this book. It is a deceptively small and concise volume filled with beautiful poetry and descriptions of the legends of Kali and Durga. The color and b&w pictures are amazing. I searched all over for it, and finally found it at Amazon!

This wonderful book, written by a respected spiritual teacher, gives accurate and culturally truthful information about Divine Mother Kali. It is about true spiritual devotion to the Divine Feminine - a perfect antidote to the misguided Western notion that Kali is the psychological reflection of the dark psyche and an expression of anger and violence.

This book gives a great introduction to many of the more fascinating aspects of Kali: the history of the divine feminine in Hinduism, her relationship to other godesses (esp. Durga), the devotional poetry of Ramprasad, her role in Tantra. It's also full of beautiful and fascinating photographs and art related to the goddess. It is definitely a great book for anyone wanting to learn more about this fascinating deity who is so often misunderstood in the West.

This book is beautyful! The photographs, paintings and drawing are breathtaking. The information is on target. Its not a big book, but for its sized it has a good amount of information. The auther knows her stuff. I cant stand it when people write about Kali and have no idea what they are talking about and believe me people I see it often. Kali is not all about destruction, or hexing, or the end of time. Shes not just a goddess in her "Crone phase" Shes not just a Goddess of the moon. Kali is used for many things even for healing. In her Bhadra Kali aspect shes a young virgin. But some people do not know this about her. If theres one complaint about this book is that sometimes the auther can get off the subject of Kali. But regardless all the information is informative and wonderful. Its well researched. Its not as devotional as Kali by Elizabet U Harding but its defenitly a compliment to her book as well as to the book Kali Puja. I reccomend all three.

This is absolutely the starting place for you if Kali's song has whispered into your heart.

As a very young man in search of The Dark Goddess and what She really represents; this book came as a treasured gem that remains with me over 20 years later! I have 2 copies in fact as my first began to fall apart from use, I removed some color photo pages and framed them! This book led me to 'Hymns to the Goddess & Hymn to Kali' and other books by Arthur Avalon (Woodroffe). From there I forged my own devotional practice and have furthered my studies on Shakta Tantra and LHP themes.

Also highly recommend: 'At the Left Hand of God' by Svoboda

I learned so much about my Kali. This book shows she isn't just this bloody tongue head holding figure. But she can also be mother. A must read for any Kali devote.